Looking at the Curtains gallery this week, and I wanted to highlight the top 3 Curtains themes that are available to download here on WinCustomize. Curtains comes with several great styles already installed, but if you want to branch out then come see what other members have been downloading recently.

If you don't have Curtains yet, download it here: Stardock Curtains

Transparent/Blur/Aero/Glass by DestinyChild

Play by danioc

PVC Dark/Light by n_three

Do you have a favorite Curtains theme you have been using? Let us know in the comments!

Stardock has been around for a long time - for more years, in fact, than the age of our youngest employee (I’m writing it this way because I like to make the long-timers feel old. ). I’ve been around for a little over five years now, and sometimes I have fun diving back into history and looking at things we’ve done in the past. I’ve mapped the history of WindowBlinds, dove deep into the evolution of PC icons, taken an ‘over the years’ look at the Drengin from GalCiv III, and now I’m going to do it with some retired Stardock software. 

We are always adapting and updating our programs to better serve all of you and keep up with the world and technology as it changes. But, sometimes, a product outlives its usefulness and becomes discontinued. We’re going to take a look at a few of Stardock’s today!

KeepSafe

KeepSafe was a file protection and restoration system for small or mid-sized companies. It would keep backups of each file version of a specified file type or folder location. For people who worked on contracts, legal documents, graphics files, and so on, something like this would have been absolutely critical to ensure you didn’t lose valuable confidential work. 

When I go looking at older software to learn the history, I use the “Wayback Machine”, which takes snapshots of web urls over a period of time. I had to laugh - apparently, it took a snapshot of KeepSafe while it was in the process of being developed. It seems whoever was working on it didn’t want to use boring old lorem ipsum as a placeholder, haha!

From what I’m able to tell, we started selling KeepSafe somewhere around April 2005 and stopped selling it sometime in 2015. There will always be a need for backup software, but obviously our time and energy went elsewhere as we moved away from “ThinkDesk” and onto Object Desktop and other great programs. 

Need some backup protection for your PC? Our partners over at Ashampoo have you covered with Backup Pro 15.

BootSkin

BootSkin was a program that popped up sometime around 2003 and allowed Windows users to change their boot screens on Windows 2000 and XP (and, later, Vista). I’ll be frank here and say that I had no idea something like this was ever even a thing; I’d never felt the need to change the look of my boot screen, personally. 

Apparently there was a market for it, though, because BootSkin exists - and, at the time at least, it changed boot screens safely by not patching the Windows XP kernel or requiring the user to download replacement kernels.

There were a couple of advantages to BootSkin. First, boot screens that used it were typically under 20K compared to other boot screen programs whose files were usually over 2 megabytes. Additionally, there was no risk of having your system unable to boot because of a corrupted file or service pack.

Also, BootSkin was completely free. There isn’t really a program to replace it in our catalog because it’s not needed anymore, but it maintains an honorary space on our software landing page with a few other older programs.

Speaking of which, let’s cover our last one for this week!

Tweak7

Tweak7’s tagline was “Optimize the performance and behavior of your Windows 7 machine!” I’m guessing I don’t need to explain why we don’t see this one anymore, haha! Tweak7 launched sometime back in 2009 and stuck around as long as Windows 7 machines were mostly relevant. 

The program was designed to be the ultimate “one stop tweaking utility” for Windows 7 users. You could adjust security features, hunt down and turn off unwanted programs that started when you booted your PC up, check that your display drivers were up to date, and more.

Unlike other tools, Tweak7 automatically prompted recommendations for enhancements and offered easy one-click updates to configuration changes that were usually rather complex. It was designed to be completely safe to use and easy to roll back changes in case you didn’t like it.  The idea was to let users freely experiment with different settings without disabling their computers.

The software programs above aren’t the only ones that we’ve retired; I have plenty more to talk about next time! 

How long have you been using Stardock software, and did you ever try any of these?

How does WindowBlinds 10 handle older skins on the latest version of Windows 10?

The answer: Inconsistently.  There are some apps, like Notepad, where it always works fine.  Others, like an Explorer window it sometimes works fine.  And then there’s Edge where it rarely works fine.  Look at the results yourselves.

For the next version of WindowBlinds we are looking to either update the most popular skins (certainly the OS skins) so that they work with the modern versions of WindowBlinds and/or update WindowBlinds to be able to handle these skins more reliably in today’s high resolution, high DPI (and often mixed DPI) world.

We used to have a software wiki many years ago with entries for all of Stardock software and WinCustomize. Unfortunately, all its data was lost quite a long time ago and it was a nice resource that was missed. The good news is we've been building a new wiki just for software and it's ready to go!

As it is a wiki there is still some work to do with updates and such, but overall, this is a great resource for information on specific software. If you need to easily find changelogs, tutorials, blogs, videos, etc. then each software wiki will have those available. I've updated many of the software tutorials and articles to keep them updated with the latest changes, but there's still lots more to do.

Check out our new software wikis here!

Stardock Software - Official Wiki

It's already been an exciting year for Stardock software - and it's only February! We are working on DeskScapes 11 still (you can see some previews and walkthroughs), but today I’d like to focus on our newly released beta for Tiles - what’s already there, and also what new things are coming to the app with the latest version.

If you’re unfamiliar with the software, Tiles is a program that lets you create multiple desktops of related programs, files, and links through the use of a customizable sidebar on your Windows desktop. You can drag programs onto the sidebar by holding the shift key; it will then create a thumbnail of that application so that you can find it easily.

You can have multiple pages of Tiles and categorize and label them anyway you wish, allowing you to organize your tasks in an efficient and visually appealing way. You can click through your lists of tiles and swipe left/right easily to access your other groups. Additionally, you can adjust the size and position of where your Tiles bar sits. 

Speaking of organization, I think my favorite Tiles feature is new to v2.0. In settings, I can change it so that certain Tiles categories show only maximized or minimized Windows. This is especially great for a 2-monitor setup, since I can keep the tiles on one monitor and easily click through to apps and tasks that I can utilize on my main monitor. 

In my case, I made it so that my Tiles pages wouldn’t show any of my minimized apps, so whenever I had something open it would leave the list, making it easier for me to find my other tasks. You can also filter what types of apps go into which Tiles groups.

Of course, we would be terribly remiss if we released a software product like this that didn’t have some additional level of visual customization available. You can find several different style and color options right from within the app so that you can curate your desktop experience. 

The new Tiles is also fully compatible with both light and dark modes for Windows, plus it fully integrates with our Curtains app. All of these great updates will allow you to achieve a perfectly cohesive desktop look that's suited to your tastes.

Tiles coordinates well with the way I work. I have found that I really like keeping a tiles page with all of my different writing documents on it so that I can flip between them. This is especially handy during product releases when I might be working on 4+ things all at the same time. Also, if you look above, you'll notice some smaller tiles beneath one of my bigger ones. Those are tiles that I have grouped together using Groupy. I love that I can see them all together like that!

Have you tried Tiles yet? If you’re an Object Desktop member, you can try the v2.0 beta before its public release. You can find details and instructions on how to download it here.

Let us know what you think!

I recently picked up a new 4K monitor for my PC as I gave my current ultrawide to my wife for her work at home setup. I realized I had purchased that monitor in 2016 for this PC which means it was even older. Looking back at my receipts and my previous blog on my PC build, I was a bit surprised that I built it in 2015. I've updated a few things over the years with the last upgrade being a GTX 1660 Super video card, but otherwise it was mostly the same. It has worked very well over the years, but it was time for a new build.

After doing some research and using tools like the PC Builder on Newegg, I had a list of the parts I needed to get. Since I was going to put this PC on my desk, I wanted an RGB build so I went with mostly a Corsair build since I have a Corsair keyboard and I could sync all the colors up using their iCue software. Since the video card was fairly new, I just moved that to the new build as it works great, and I didn't want to deal with the current pricing and availability of video cards with the current situation. I also kept my data and games SSD drives as they were also a recent upgrade and it made it easier as I wouldn't have to move a lot of data around.

Parts used:

Case - Corsair iCUE 4000X RGB Mid-Tower ATX PC Case

Motherboard - Asus Prime Z390-A

CPU - Intel Core i5-9400F

RAM - Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16GB

PSU - Corsair CX650F RGB

M.2 SSD - Samsung 970 EVO 500GB

CPU cooler - Corsair iCUE H100i Elite Capellix

I ordered everything off Amazon as they had the best prices, and it would be here in just a couple of days. Everything arrived on the same day and I was excited to start the build. I pulled everything out and then I noticed something wasn't right about the motherboard. The M.2 heatsink was only attached with one screw, and the plastic covering the thermal pad was gone. Maybe it came loose during shipping, so then I moved on to putting the CPU on. Then it was pretty obvious I was sent a used motherboard.

Someone left their CPU cooler plate attached to the back of the motherboard, and then I saw the CPU pins were bent! 

After a quick chat with an Amazon rep I had a replacement arrive the very next day. This one was brand new so now the build could continue!

For the most part this was a pretty easy build. The Corsair 4000X case was easy to work with and all the parts went in with out any issues at all. There was a tight squeeze between the top fans/radiator and the RAM, but it all went together just fine. The Corsair case has a nice cable channel in the back where most of the included cables were already ran, and i added a few more to help manage all the cables. I routed and cleaned up all the cables as best I could, but I didn't go crazy with cable management in the back as it's not visible at all, but I just wanted to make it organized for any future uprades I might make.

I got everything installed, double-checked all the wiring, and got the monitor and power cables all hooked up. Pressed that button, lights came on, and that's it. It didn't POST or anything. It had power and everything seemed like it was working, but I could not get it going. Thankfully this ASUS motherboard has LED status lights which will give an indication what might be wrong. The VGA and boot lights were lit so it was off to Bing to look for a solution. After just a few minutes I found a couple posts with similar issues, and what seemed like a strange solution. For whatever reason, this motherboard wants both a DisplayPort and HDMI cable plugged in at the same time. 

Since I was using a DisplayPort cable already, I grabbed an HDMI from my parts box and plugged it in. And it worked. Went right to the BIOS and made sure everything was set up, and then put in my USB drive with Windows 10 on it. One more reboot and Windows was loading!

I'm incredibly happy with the build and excited to have a new PC!

It's a new month so we have a new desktop screenshot thread for February! Since Valentine's Day is approaching in a couple of weeks, this is a fantastic opportunity to show off any Valentine's desktop you might have put together. If Valentine's Day isn't your thing it's no problem. Still feel free to head over and show us what cool skins and themes you are using on your desktop this month!

February 2021 Desktop Screenshots

Need some skins for inspiration? Check out this Valentine's post on some favorite themes to start with.

I'm using Brave as my default, but am looking at Opera and Edge, and I'm wondering which extensions you guys use and if they slow you down.

I might also take a look at Vivaldi with its stacked tabs.

Not to get super heavy or anything, but let me ask you: have you ever wished for just one more conversation with a loved one who's passed on?

I think it's fairly safe to say that most people would answer yes to this question in some capacity - I know I sure would. I have said good-bye to many wonderful people in my life, and although when times get tough I can still hear them in my head and in my heart enough to imagine a pep talk from them, it's no substitute for having them here, in the flesh, sitting across the table from me.

I say all of this in order to set up a piece of news that I stumbled upon today that both piqued my curiosity and perplexed me greatly at the same time: Microsoft has been granted a patent that would allow them to make a chatbot using the personal information of deceased people.

Say what, now?

The patent, which you can read here, describes a bot that is based on the "images, voice data, social media posts, electronic messages," and other personal information. According to Microsoft, the person the chat bot represents may "correspond to a past or present entity (or a version thereof), such as a friend, a relative, an acquaintance, a celebrity, a fictional character, a historical figure, a random entity, etc." I don't know about you, but this seems like it could skirt into some really awkward and potentially uncomfortable or morally sketchy areas. 

The patent also suggests that the person the bot is emulating may "correspond to oneself," which means that you could potentially train a digital replacement in the event of your death. The notion of a 2D or 3D model of a specific person being generated via images and video data is also included in the patent.

The idea of being able to speak to a simulation of a person isn't new - the idea has been woven into the fabric of Science Fiction for years. Let's be frank: no technologically created entity is ever going to replace a person. Sure, maybe it might elicit some fond memories, but - it's still fake. It's almost like a simulation, but one that would be all too eerie for me, personally.

The technology also isn't really just science fiction anymore, either - there are some real world examples of this idea, from Kim Kardashian, who was gifted a 3-minute hologram of her late father, to the founder of the tech company Luca, who used 8,000 lines of text messages to create a chatbot that mimicked her late friend's way of speaking.

I can respect the technology and acknowledge how far science in the world of tech has come, but for me there's a line that I draw at a digital recreation of a loved one who is meant to converse with me. I could even see how something like this might be able to help certain people process their grief by finding the reminders of conversations past and the promise of new ones, however constructed.

I wonder what Microsoft, ultimately, aims to do with this idea. What about you? Does the idea of this technology excite or repulse you? Share your thoughts with me!

I've obtained the top download lists from 2020 and have been going through them. I'm going to be making several posts about them, but today I wanted to start with CursorFX. It was an exciting year for CursorFX as we released v4 back in April. 

So, let's take a look at the most downloaded CursorFX themes on WinCustomize for 2020!

Hal 2030 by theAVMAN was the top CursorFX download in 2020!

Piranha FX by neone6  and Oberon 7 by Vampthothika came in as the 2nd and 3rd most downloaded with over 7000 downloads each.